Swinging cutter reamer



Feb. 9, 1932. .1. GRANT SV IINGING CUTTER REAMER Filed May 5, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet Feb. 9, 1932. J. GRANT I i,844,355

SWINGING CUTTER REAMER Filed May 5, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 War/7 @y reanier body, but it Patented Feb. 9, 1932 UNITED STAT ES funn sueur, or Los ANGELES, cALrrQBNIA SWL'NGING' CUTTER BEAMER Apnlication` led May 5,

This iiiryention has relation to expanding reuniera oit the swinging cutter type it being.

a general object ot the invention to provide an nnprcrcd form of swinging cutter type reamer in which the strains and thrusts in cident to reaming are transferred directly JL" tl 1 f. witg 1 -"n t b 17 ,noni it er. tr o1 ci. ei carini o 1e oef), without having. to be transterred through the ruvot pins or other pivotal connections i or the cutter or carrierl with the body. Grenemilyv sp airing, it is an object ot this invention to provide a reamer that is simple and.r strong and is vfully capable oit withstanding the` very large stresses which are imposed upon a reamer in actual operation. As is well known by those 'familiar with the art, .such stresses are exceptionally large and it is necessary, in any successful reamer, to

provide for their direct transfer to the body.`

posed upon the reamer. The result oli these two torres is a torce acting obliquely uponthc cutter. rlliat final` resultant 'torce should not only be supported upon and transferred directly from the cutter or cutter carrier to the must be transferred in relation to its direction and with relation to the position of the cutter or cutter carrier, that the resultant force tends at all 'times to keep the cutter swung around to its expanded position. Otherwise the 'torce will end to contract the cutter' and no reaming will be done.

The present application deals with a novel manner and arrangement oit supporting a swinging cutter or cutter carrier, and will be best understood romthe Yfollowing detailed description ot a typical and preferred design` embodying the invention, reference for this purpose being had to the accompanying` such a marmer,` with drawings, in w iich:

1928. Serial` No. 275,342.

Figure L is zu side. elevation loli a1 reamer ein?. bodying the invention, the .cutter being shown in its. collapsed. position Fig. 2 is acentrai,longitudinalK section of" the same, showing thecutter ingits protracted; or expanded, position;V

Figs. Bland 4. are, respectively cross-see-` tionsfon lines 3 3 anche-4,015 Figsgll andjK showing the` cutters. in expanded,` and con` tracted positions, anch Eigs. i 5; and' 6 arey similar4 sections,v respecf` tir/ely, on linesfe-and'Ge-Gf, Eigs. lanlff.,`

The typical design, which, I illustrate in, the accompanying drawings shcwsa realiser body il() which mayprei'e ibly beanademain ly or', a single solid piece,l ecessed asshown at ll. to take the mittens, allowingi them to` swing backY to. their, contra,cited;f positions; as.` shown in lf-igs. l'. Brand 5, and inthose posi tions to be housedwithintlie body. The bodyincludesl also,n torconvenience of manutac-` ture4 and assembly,l a collar- 1L lm1`eltl between the. part l() andv ai sub 13); which, is, screw, threadedly connectedito the/body atitslowen end, this-sub 13" being providedi with the usuali 7.5 tool joint box 14 at its` lowen end fon connection with a; drill bit. r.Ehe upper end! oithe body part L() willfbe provided, as` usuali (but not shownl in thei drawings) with the` usuali tootjoint connection for attachment toa driljli stein; and thelbody has awater circulation,` passage l5 extending throughitv and on down through, the sub L35 to supply circulating water to the drill bit below. A

The swingingcuttets, of the t-ypeioii reamer whiclnl` here describe maybe ofr any suitable type and character.` Thcymay be either plain cuttersmcutters of what` areA known as the shale cutting type-or they maybe puovided with inset cuttingelements of anyl desired` 90 kind. Where the cuttersfcoi'nprise a cutting. element which is physically aA pieceor inein-` ber scp arate frmnythe body of the cutter, their the cutters are comprised of what may be rernicd the ultimate cutting element and` of" 95 a cutter carrier. Thus, in the drawings l show each critter as con'lprising. an` ultimate cutting element,intheform of a roller cutter 16 mounted on a cutter carrier which, in this particular case, is illustratedq as comprising AVAG upper` and lower heads 17 and 18 and an interconnecting-stem 19 whichV also forms the shaft or stem for the roller 16. Preferably the carrier parts 17 18 and 19 form a rigid entity, the roller 16 rotating on the stem 19 and that stem being rigidlyv joined with the two heads. In order to eect such rigid juncture, to prevent stem 19 from rotating with roller 16 and to insure at all times that th heads 17 and 1S will be maintained in proper alineinent relation to each other, the stem 19 may be rigidly joined with the two heads in any suitable manner. As an improvement in regard to such features I here showone end 19a of stem 19 bent sharply at an angle and fitting tightly in correspondingly inclined bore in head 17. This inclined end may be forced tightly into the bore or it may be shrunk therein, or otherwise tightly held. Likewise the straight end of the stern may preferably be tightly fitted or held in lower head'f18'; but removably, in order that a worm roller may be removed 1 for replacement. These provisions prevent any relative" rotation of the stem 19 and prevent any relative dislocation of the two heads 17 and 18; and thus the heads and the stem become in effect a rigid cutter carrier entity.

VThe cutter, however it may be formed'.

swings upon a substantially vertical axis in the body, which axis is here represented by the upper and lower pivot pins-25 and 26 which are located uponcommon vertical axes. The upper pivot pins 25 lit into bores in the upper part of body 10 above recesses 11; while the lower pivot pins 26 lit into corresponding bores in the collar 12, this collarbeingdoweled to the body with pins 27 so as to locate the pivot receiving bores in the collar in proper alinement'with the upper pivot receiving bores of the body.

Being'thus mounted on vertical axes the cutters are capable of swinging horizontally between the collapsed and expanded positions shown in the drawings. In their contracted positions they swing back into .and are housed within the body recesses, projecting only slightly beyond the body periphery'. When the tool has been lowered in the hole below the casing, right-handed rotation (looking down upon it) willV cause the cutters to be thrown outwardly by centrifugal force or by drag'upon the wall vof the hole, causing the cut-ters to assume the expanded positions shown in Figs. l and 6. In `these expanded positions the cutters are not exactly radial with reference to the center of the body, as being stopped, they cannot swing far enough to reach such a radial position.

This maintenance of thev cutters always in non-radial positions is necessaryinorderthat the critters maybe positively collapsed by casing engagement, and without the necessity of rotating the tool left-handedly. Thus each upper head 17 is provided at its upper y casing.

The arrangements which are now to be described are those which I provide for directly supporting the cutters in their proper expanded positions and supporting them against a'll the thrusts to which they are subjected. An understanding ofthe nature of the thrust and of the natureof the support will be best understood now by reference to Fig. 4. Here I have indicated the circumferential force by the arrow C, the radial force bythe arrow R and the resultant force by the arrow Fr The relative magnitudes of the forces C and R may and do vary very greatly, depending upon the instant conditions which are being met by the tool. Consequently the magnitude and direction of thek resultant force F may and does vary substantially, but the direction indicated in Fig. 4 may be taken asv typical, although the direction of F may at times be more nearly parallel to C and at other times more nearly parallel to R. It will be Vreadily understood from a consideration of the nature ofthe situation that if F becomes so nearly parallel to R that the angle between F and R is less than what may be termedthenon-radial angle of thecutter, then the resultant force will tend to collapse the critter. This angle of non-radiality of the cutter carrier is indicated in F ig.'l by the angle between the lines A and B; and this angle is, for reasons which willnow be understood, made as small as is consistent with dependable casing collapsing action on the cutter. Making the non-radial angle small, then the direction of the resultant force F will always be such that, although it tends to thrust the cutter inwardly, it also tends to throw it around toward, and to keep it in, its expanded position. With the cutter in its expanded position and subjected to the described forces and the resultant stresses, the supporting bearings for the cutter carrier, now to be described, are'such that the` force exerted upon the cutters never tends to move the carrier away from its support', rather tending at all times to move it back against its support. K

i Considering an upper carrier head 17, it will be seen that the head is provided with a notch 30 (see Fig. 3 where they can be most clearly seen). In the expanded position this notch 30 takes a lug or rib 31 which is formed on the body at the outer' edge of iii) the cutter receiving recess ll. The outer lace Blu o'l supporting rib 3l is here shown as being substantially circumferential about the center of pivot pin 25. Likewise the outer Vwall tace 30o oit the notch 3() is concentric about the center ot' pivot pin Qconcentric about the swfnging axis ot the cutter carrier. '.l`hus when the cutter is in the expanded position ei" li`ig. -l, with the surfaces Silo and 31o in engagement, no torce, unless it be a force that positively acts to swing the cutter toward collapsed position, can, by reaction of the supporting sin-tacos 30o and Bla, tend to nieve the cutter toward its collapsed position. lt will be seen roln an inspection of lt l that the action ot a torce like that indicated at F tends to keep the cutter in expanded position lor two reasons: in the piace the :torce ot lt positively tends to rotate the cutter around against the lug or rib 3l, these torccs being transferred directly troni the cutter carrier to the rib. ind the action oit force lV which tends to press the cutter inwardly toward the body also, through the interaction of the surfaces Illia. and Sie, has the result ot holding the cutter niore securely in its expanded post tion. 'this action will be understood when it is considered that these surfaces 30o and illu are angular `in relation to center lines il and ld, so that even a radial torce along either ot these lines will, by the interaction oit the two sui-tacos, tend to nieve the cutter around to, and hold it in, its expanded position. Bind it will also be understood how the interengagenientot' the surfaces 30a and Illu. tal-:e all the inward stresses and thrusts imposed upon a cutter and prevents those stresses and thrusts troni being transferred to the body through thc pivot pins. And the thru t receiving action oit the ribs 3l niay lurthcr be readily understood by a consider ation ol its relative position behind7 the cutter and incre or less in the direct line of thrust upon the cutter. The end surface 3l?) oi the rib and the outer facc 31u take all or substantially all ot the forces and thrusts which are imposed upon the cutter and thus transter thein directly to the body.

The thrust transferring arrangement which has now been described for the upper head it? is also provided for the lower head 18, the saine arrangement ot thrust taking ribs and head recessed being provided there; and the corresponding elements and parts being designated by the saine numerals in Figs. and t3 as in ligs. 13 and Ll. The only structural dii'terence between the arrangen'ients at the lower ends ot the cutter carriers is this: that the lowerinost part ol' the lower thrust taking rib 3l is torined in the collar l2, as indicated at 3l@ in Fig. l. The general structure and 'functions are, however, the saine as have been described.

ln order to allow the thrust ribs and the head recesses to act freely as described, and to take all the thrusts without subjecting the pivot pins to any thrusts, and also in order to inake the parts freely movable between collapsed and expanded positions, the pivot pins and 2G may be inade to lit a little loosely or at least freely in their bores; and it desired the heads 17 and 18 niay be so litted in recesses l1 that they do not bear or rub Y against the rear parts of those recesses,

An expanding reamer ot the character described, comprising a body, a cutter carrier mounted on a vertical axis in said body t0 swing betweenretracted and protracted posi,- tions, thc cutter carrier having a notch iny its rearward side and the body having a corresponding rib which is engaged by the notch when the cutter carrier is in expanded position, and a cutting elenient carried by said cutter carrier.

2. An expanding reamer ot the character descrilfied, comprising a body, a cutter carrier mountedE on a vertical axis in said body to swing between retracted and protracted positions, the cuttercarrier having a notch in its rearward side and the body` having a correspending rib which is engaged by the notch when the cutter carrier is in expanded position, the outer lace ot said rib and the Outer tace oi said notch lying at an angle to a radial plane through the protracted cutter carrier, and a cutting elenient carried by said cutter carrier.

.233. An expansive reainer of the character described, comprising a body, a cutter carrier mounted to swing on a vertical axis in said body, said cutter carrier projecting laterally troni its axis so that its outer edge may swing between a retracted position and a protracted position in which its outer edge projects out wardly from and beyond the body, the cutter carrier having on its rearward face near its outer end an inwardly facing surface and the body having' a corresponding outwardly facing surface with which the inwardly facing surface engages when the cutter carrier is pro` tractcd, and a cutting element carried by said cutter carrier.

1l. An expansive reainer of the character described, comprising a body, a cutter carrier mounted to swing on a vertical axis in said body, said cutter carrier projecting laterally troni its axis so that Aits outer edge inay swing between a retracted position and a protracted position in which its outer edge projects outwardly troni and beyond the body, the cutter carrier having on its rear ward tace near its outer end an inwardly facing surface and the body having a corresponding outwardly acing surface which is overhung by said inwardly facing surface when the cutter carrier is in protracted position, and a cutting element carried by said cutter carrier.

lli

5. An expansive reamer of the character described, comprising a body, a cutter carrier mounted to swing on a vertical axis in said body, said cutter carrier projecting lat erally from its axis so that its out-er edge may swing between a `retracted position and a protracted position in which its outer edge projects outwardly from and beyond the body, the cutter carrier having on its rea-rward face near its outer end an inwardly facing surface, and the body having a corresponding outwardly facing surface, said surface lying'at an angle to a radial plane through the protracted cutter carrier, and a cutting element carried by said cutter carrier.

, 6. An expansive reanier of the character described, comprising a body, a cutter carrier mounted to swing on a vertical axis in said body, said cutter carrier projecting laterally from its axis so that its outer edge may swing between a retracted position and a protracted position in which its outer edge projects outwardly from and beyond the body, the cutter `carrier having on its rearward face near its outer end an inwardly facing surface and the body having a corresponding outwardly facing surface, said surface lying at an acute angle to a radial plane through the protracted cuttercarrier, and a cutting element carried by said cutter carrier. y

7. An expansive reamer of the character described, comprising a recessed body, a-cutter carrier mounted to swing upon a vertical L axis in said body, said cutter carrier projecting laterally from its axis and adapted in a retracted position to be housed within the body recess and in a protracted position to project from and beyond the body, said cutter carrier comprising a swinging head, said head having near its outer end an inwardly facing surface, and the body having carrier, and a cuttingV element carried by said cutter carrier. f, Y

9. An expansive reanier4 ofthe .character described, comprising a body, a cutter carrier mounted to swing on a vertical laxis in said body, said cutter carrier projecting laterally from its axis so that its outer edge may swing between a retracted position and a protracted position in which its outer edge projects outwardly from and beyond the body, the body having an outwardly facing surface and the cutter' carrier having an inwardly facing surface which overhangs and. bears inwardly against the body surface when the cutter carrier is protracted, thereby to transmit inwardly directed stresses from the cutter carrier to the body, and a cutting element carried by said cutter carrier.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 16th JOHN GRANT.

day of April, 1928.

a corresponding outwardly facing surface which is overhuiig by said inwardly facing surface when the cutter carrier is in protracted position, and a cutting el-einent car-` h ried by vsaid cutter carrier. j

8. An expansive reanier of the character fdescribed, comprising a recessed body, a cutter carrier mounted to swing upon a vertical axis in said body, said cutter carrier projecting laterally from its axis and fradapted in a retracted position to be housed within the body recess and in a protracted position to project from and beyond the body, said cutter carrier comprising a swinging head, said head having near its outer end an inwardly facing surface, and the body having a corresponding outwardly facing surface which is overliung by said inwardly facing surface when the cutter carrier is in protracted position, said surfaces lying at an acute angle 1to a radial plane through the center of the body and the outer edge of the protracted cutter 

